


truth or dare?

by Anonymous



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Canon-ish, I think?, M/M, more fluff for you, this is not smutty don't get your hopes up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7854946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After playing a round of Truth or Dare with the boys at the Haus, Jack and Bitty start playing a private game of their own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	truth or dare?

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been trying to work my way through the pile of prompts in my inbox, but honestly it’s rough because I end up writing 2k+ words each time and it gets out of control fast. Anyways, here’s one for an anon on tumblr who asked for “zimbits - truth or dare”!

            “Jaaaack,” Bitty slurred his name, well and truly drunk. “You can’t just pick truth every time. That’s so boring.”

            “He’s right, Jack,” Ransom agreed seriously from across the circle. “Plus, it’s in the rules that you can only choose truth twice in row before you must pick dare for your next turn.”

            “I don’t remember there being so many rules to this game,” Jack said. He frowned at Ransom and Holster who exchanged glances with each other and then grinned in unison at Jack. “Sounds to me like you’re making it up.”

            Bitty giggled and pushed Jack lightly on the shoulder. It was the most contact they’d had all night and Jack wanted badly to kiss him. He had almost immediately been sucked into the group when he’d arrived a few hours earlier and hadn’t had a real moment alone with Bitty yet. Bitty raised a single eyebrow at him and then smiled, obviously reading his thoughts.

            “Alright, fine. Dare then, Bits,” Jack said, returning his smile.

            “Excellent,” Bitty said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

            “Get him good, Bitty,” Holster encouraged, pointing at Bitty meaningfully. Bitty nodded and turned to Jack, smirking.

            That’s how it started.

 

\--

 

            The next morning, Jack nudged Bitty awake early and cajoled him into an early morning skate. Bitty had done his level best to convince Jack to stay in bed with him, but Jack won out in the end. Bitty grumbled the whole way to the rink, but once they were on the ice, his mood improved. They skated lazy figure-eights for long time, neither of them wanting to practice, just skate. Jack had snuck Bitty onto the ice at the Falconers’ stadium a few times, but something about Faber so early in morning felt more intimate. It was all the history they had there.

            “Sure you don’t want to put your pads on?” Jack asked as they fell in line with each other and started lapping the rink. Bitty yawned next to him and threw him a dirty look.

            “Nuh uh,” Bitty said. “Your days of torturing me with checking practice are over, Mr. Zimmermann.”

            Jack laughed and Bitty smiled at him before speeding out in front of him. Jack launched forward to try to catch up with him but Bitty was already several lengths ahead and gaining. He won without much contest. Jack had a game the next day and practice later that morning, so he didn’t try very hard. They left the ice shortly after that to get back to the Haus and gather up Bitty’s things for the weekend so they could make it back to Providence in time for Jack’s morning practice.

            They walked back to the Haus in relative quiet and Jack felt a pang of yearning for this part of his old life. He had walked from Faber to the Haus hundreds of times with Bitty by his side while he was still at Samwell and he missed it. Bitty seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He grabbed Jack’s hand and squeezed, letting go almost immediately. There weren’t many people around campus this early in the morning, but it would be brazenly stupid for them to hold hands, even at Samwell.

            When they got back to the Haus, Bitty started packing almost immediately. Jack had suggested he pack the night before so they could leave right after their morning skate, but Bitty had waved him off in favor of joining the socializing downstairs. Jack hadn’t fought him – he wanted to spend every second he could in Bitty’s presence too, even if he had to share him with six others. Bitty was almost done when Jack got up from the desk chair and nuzzled into his neck from behind as he stared into his closet. Bitty let himself be walked into wall so Jack could kiss him properly.

            Jack pressed him back against the wall, kissing his way along Bitty’s throat and collarbone. Bitty moaned quietly and slid a hand under Jack’s shirt, angling his head to catch Jack’s mouth with own. Jack kissed him, but when Bitty made to take off his shirt he pulled back and stopped him. Bitty pouted.

            “Truth or dare?” Jack asked, grinning down at him.

            Bitty’s brow furrowed and Jack leaned down to kiss him again quickly. When he pulled back, Bitty’s eyes were unfocused, dark with arousal. His hands were still wandering along the hem of Jack’s shirt.

            “Dare,” Bitty said, smiling up at Jack.

            Jack kissed him on the nose and stepped back.

            “I dare you to pack your flashcards and spend all weekend studying them.”

            Bitty’s mouth dropped open in indignation and he sputtered at Jack. Jack laughed and fell back into Bitty’s desk chair, grinning up at his boyfriend. Bitty hmphed at him in frustration and went back over to the bed to resume throwing things in his travel bag.

            “You are unbelievable, Jack Zimmermann.”

            “I told you there’d be payback for last night.”

 

 

\--

            It took on a life of its own – a private game between the two of them that they only played when no one else was around to hear them. More often than not, Jack used his to steal kisses from Bitty when he was otherwise occupied by baking or something else. It was hard to successfully de-rail Bitty once he got focused on a pie, but a truth or dare prompt often did the trick. On the other hand, Bitty used Jack’s propensity to choose truth to check in with him after a hard game or on a bad day when Jack normally would have kept his silence.

            “Truth or dare?” Bitty whispered against his bare chest late one night after a hard loss to Aces. Jack always hated losing, but losing to Kent was worse. Coming home to Bitty in his bed made it bearable, though. Jack pulled him a closer, pressing his lips to Bitty’s forehead.

            “Truth,” Jack whispered back. Bitty was silent for a long time and Jack listened to the steady sound of his breathing, thinking he might have fallen asleep, but then, finally, he spoke.

            “Do you think you’ll ever be able to be friends with him again?” he asked.

            Jack exhaled sharply, his fingers digging into Bitty’s shoulder. Bitty didn’t move or follow-up like he normally would have, babbling into the silence. Instead, he just let the question settle between them. Jack wondered how long he had been hanging onto it.

            “I don’t know, Bits,” he answered honestly. “I don’t think so.”

            Bitty sighed, soft and low. His hand curled against Jack’s stomach and he nuzzled his face into Jack’s side. Jack ran his fingers through Bitty’s hair, cradling his head against his chest gently.

            “I wish you could be,” Bitty said after a long time. “I hate seeing you so sad.”

            “Ah, Bits,” Jack said. “I love you.”

            “I know,” Bitty said, dropping a kiss on his chest and looking up at Jack with warm, brown eyes. “I love you too.”

 

 

\--

 

            Jack leaned over the grocery cart as Bitty studied the label on a package of coffee. To anyone passing them by, it would have been easy to mistake them for just friends. They had a careful six inches between them at all times and by now, it was a practiced skill not to let his gaze linger on Bitty too long in public. Jack saved up all of his long looks for later when they were in the safety of his apartment. At least, usually he did. Today, he was struggling.

            He looked up and down the aisle, but they were alone. Emboldened, he stepped a little closer to Bitty who looked up from the two bags he was comparing. He looked askance at Jack, casting his own look down the aisle.

            “Jack?”

            “Truth or dare?”

            Bitty hesitated and then tossed one of the bags of coffee in the cart before putting the other back. He glanced around them again and quirked a small smile at Jack.

            “Dare.”

            Jack smiled. Bitty could almost always be counted on to choose dare. He stepped even closer and leaned down to whisper in Bitty’s ear.

            “Kiss me,” he said.

            Bitty had clearly anticipated the dare. His mouth was warm and sugar-sweet when it found Jack’s for a kiss, still tasting of the ice cream they’d been eating before shopping. The kiss was over almost as quickly as it began and Bitty put the customary six inches of space between them again, for all the world looking as though he was intensely interested in the tea across the aisle from them. His only tell was the way his chest heaved with each breath. Jack couldn’t stop looking at him.

           

\--

 

**4:02 PM**

**FROM: BITTY**

**TO: JACK**

i think i want to cash in your next dare for tonight

 

**4:07 PM**

**FROM: JACK**

**TO: BITTY**

 

I still don’t think that’s an actual rule.

 

**4:09 PM**

**FROM: BITTY**

**TO: JACK**

 

you lost this battle from the first time you let rans and holster get away with it :)

 

**4:12 PM**

**FROM: JACK**

**TO: BITTY**

 

Fair point. So, what’s it going to be? :-)

 

**4:17 PM**

**FROM: BITTY**

**TO: JACK**

 

:)

 

Not much…

 

When you score tonight, I dare you to blow me a kiss.

 

**4:20 PM**

**FROM: JACK**

**TO: BITTY**

 

You won’t be there

 

**4:22 PM**

**FROM: BITTY**

**TO: JACK**

 

Just do it to the camera. I’ll get the message. ;)

 

**4:28 PM**

**FROM: JACK**

**TO: BITTY**

 

Done.

 

I miss you. Can’t wait to be home tomorrow.

 

\--

 

 

            “If you asked me to, I would do it,” Jack said one afternoon, unprompted. Bitty’s fingers froze where they were gently massaging Jack’s head in Bitty’s lap. For a moment, Jack thought that maybe Bitty didn’t understand but then Bitty frowned down at him.

            “I wouldn’t ask you to,” he said, resuming the scalp massage. Jack sighed heavily.

            “Bits,” he started, but Bitty cut him off firmly.

            “ _Jack_ ,” he said. “I’m not going to ask you for that or dare you or anything else. That’s not fair. You get to choose when and where.”

            “It affects you too,” Jack said. He sat up so he could look Bitty in the eye. Bitty’s face was twisted into a sad expression that gave Jack a hollow feeling inside. He hated that he made Bitty feel that way. He hated that it was his career that was keeping them from living their lives out in the open. He hated that this stupid apartment was their only safe space. He didn’t say any of that, however. He just said, “Bitty, I want…to be on the other side of this.”

            Bitty melted next to him, collapsing back into the couch and rubbing his face.

            “Sweetheart,” Bitty sighed. He shifted closer, throwing his knees into Jack’s lap. Jack put his arm around him and pulled him even closer so he could bury his face in the crook of his neck and breathe him in. Bitty hugged him, fingers threading through Jack’s hair again and holding him there. “What brought this on?”

            “Just…” Jack exhaled and threw his head back against the back of the couch. “I was out after a win the other day and all the guys had their girlfriends with them and all I could think about all night was how much I wished I could have you there. Instead, you were here, waiting for me to get home.”

            Bitty shifted in his arms and moved so that he was sitting more in Jack’s lap. Jack looped his arms around him and looked up at him. Bitty pressed a soft, chaste kiss to his mouth and smoothed a thumb along his cheekbone tenderly. Jack leaned into his touch.

            “Truth or dare?” Bitty asked.

            “I’m pretty sure it’s my turn,” Jack said, although he didn’t really mind.

            “Let me have one on credit, then,” Bitty said, kissing him again, a little longer this time. Jack hummed his assent.

            “Truth,” he said when Bitty leaned his forehead against his.

            “Do you just feel left out or are you actually ready?”

            It’s a carefully calculated assault that hit its target perfectly. Jack sank back, away from Bitty, biting his lips in consternation. Bitty’s face was guarded, but Jack was an expert by then at seeing his disappointment.

            “ _Mon coeur_ , I want to be ready so badly,” he murmured, running his hands up and down Bitty’s arms. Bitty smiled softly at him before ducking his head, but Jack had already seen the tears brimming in his eyes. He caught Bitty’s chin and lifted it gently as a few hot tears dropped down Bitty’s face and splashed onto his wrist.

            “I know,” Bitty said. He wiped his eyes and his expression was suddenly sunny. Jack knew it was entirely for his benefit, but it didn’t make him feel any better. “It’s alright. I’ll wait for as long as it takes, honey.”

 

\--

 

            “We can still call this off if you’re having second thoughts, Jack,” Georgia said, squeezing him on the shoulder. She had mistaken his nerves for hesitation instead of excitement, instead of relief. Jack closed his eyes, breathing in and out deeply several times, before opening them again and meeting her gaze.

            “I’ll be fine,” Jack said. “No second thoughts, just nerves.”

            “Okay,” Georgia said, nodding. She gave him another look over before pushing open the door of the small conference room and gesturing the reporter inside. Jack straightened up in his chair and took another deep breath, shaking the guy’s hand steadily. They sit together for two hours and by the end of it, Jack’s head was spinning.

            The story would come out in two weeks, splashed across the cover of Sports Illustrated. It wasn’t how Jack had originally wanted it to happen, but Georgia had talked him into it. Bitty had agreed with her, thinking that if Jack told his entire story, instead of just giving a statement, it would be easier for people to handle because it was more personal.

            It had been several months since Jack had first brought it up to Bitty and made him cry. He had waited until the playoffs to broach the subject to Georgia at all and it had taken them a while to work out the details to everyone’s satisfaction and choose the right reporter and the right magazine. Bitty had been careful to only involve himself when Jack explicitly asked him to offer an opinion, as if he was scared to deter Jack by being too opinionated about the whole thing.

            When he got home from the interview, he swung Bitty around and around until they were both dizzy, and then they fell in bed together and didn’t emerge for the rest of the day. The next two weeks were a special kind of torture. Jack felt as though he was on pins and needles, half-expecting for the story to leak early. He could tell Bitty was just as on edge. Bitty had moved in for the summer after a short visit to Madison and with off-season in full swing, Jack was able to spend most of his time that wasn’t spent in training with his boyfriend.

            The story didn’t leak.

            The day before it came out, Bitty and Jack boarded a plane for Montreal with no one the wiser, so when the magazine hit newsstands, they were long gone, ensconced at the Zimmermann estate well out of paparazzi’s reach.

            Two weeks later, well-rested and ready to take on the world, they returned to Providence. As they cleared the baggage claim, Jack leaned over to Bitty and whispered in his ear.

            “Truth or dare?” he asked. Bitty shot him a surprised look. They were so used to maintaining a modicum of space in public that Jack had clearly surprised him by being so close when they were people all around them, some already throwing them suspicious looks. Jack knew he could count on Bitty to always take a dare though.

            “Dare,” Bitty said after some consideration. Jack smiled down at him.

            “Kiss me.”

 

           

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this fic as a birthday present to myself, so that’s why it’s so disgustingly cute. there’s still an hour left in the day, so it counts!!
> 
> let me know what you think! :) [and visit me on tumblr!](http://ronanlynchisneversleepingagain.tumblr.com)


End file.
